MANKATO, Minn. – After a 3-1 weekend at the Washburn Invite, Minnesota State (5-3) softball is back on the road for six games at the Midwest College Classic.
 
Friday, February 28:
1:30 p.m. – vs Missouri Western
6:30 p.m. – vs Rogers State
 
Saturday, March 1:
1:30 p.m. – vs Pittsburg State
4:00 p.m. – vs Emporia State
 
Sunday, March 2:
10:00 a.m. – vs Washburn
12:30 p.m. – vs Central Missouri
 
 
About the Mavericks
Minnesota State is now 5-3 after the team went 3-1 at the Washburn Invite. The Mavericks were no-hit in their game against Pitt State, 1-0, but immediately got the bats going again against Emporia State with an 11-3 win. Freshman Finley Anderson and junior first baseman Gianna Lara hit a pair of two-run home runs in the second inning against the Hornets to open up the Maverick lead. On Monday, another Anderson home run gave Minnesota State enough of a lead to defeat No. 13 Central Oklahoma 3-2. Sailor Hall pitched a two-hit complete-game shutout against Central Missouri and freshman Carly Kimmes hit a triple and a homer to score both runs for MSU in a 2-0 victory to close the weekend.
 
Lara is the leading batter for Minnesota State with a .409 batting average and a 1.273 OPS. She has nine hits, two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI, all team highs. She has three multi-hit games this season. Kimmes has the team's best OPS at 2.025. In her first nine at bats, she is hitting .556 with five hits, has four runs scored, two doubles, a triple and a home run. She has one RBI and has drawn four walks. Anderson has only hit for power at the plate in her six at-bats, with both of her hits landing over the fence. The freshman has an OPS of 1.833, and her four RBI ranks second on the team.
 
Hall leads the team with 16 strikeouts in the circle. The junior transfer from Kirkwood holds a 2.07 ERA and a .93 WHIP. Hall earned her first Maverick win and save at the Washburn Invite. Maddie Oetzmann is the team's other leading starter. In 19 innings of work, she has 10 Ks and a 2.21 ERA with a 2-1 record.
 
Legendary head coach Lori Meyer is in her 41st season as the Minnesota State softball coach. Meyer has accumulated a 1,405-749-3 record with the Maverick softball team, which is the most wins by an NCAA Division II coach in history. She has coached 31 All-Americans and 126 All-Conference players and has won eight conference titles, taken 17 trips to the NCAA Tournament, and three of her teams have made the NCAA Championship. In 2017, Meyer and the Mavericks won the NCAA DII National Championship.
 
Minnesota State holds a 20-14 record against Missouri Western State with a two-game win streak against the Griffons. The Mavericks have won 10 of the last 12 matchups against MWSU. In 2024, MSU defeated Missouri Western 4-2.
 
The team is an even 2-2 against Rogers State. Minnesota State fell to the Hillcats twice in 2022, first an 8-2 loss that went 15 innings and later that day a 4-0 defeat.
 
The Mavericks officially fell behind in the series against Pittsburg State with the loss last weekend, 9-10. The Gorillas have defeated Minnesota State in seven of the last eight matchups.
 
MSU has the opportunity to tie up the series against Emporia State this weekend, as the 11-3 win on Sunday made the Mavericks' record 14-15 against the Hornets. The team has beaten ESU nine of the last 11 contests.
 
The Mavericks are 15-11 against Washburn. MSU is on a six-game win streak against the Ichabods, with 12 wins in the last 13 games played against them.
 
With the shutout against the Jennies, Minnesota State has matched the all-time series with them at 13-13. The Mavericks have won four of the last five against Central Missouri; all of those wins were shutouts.
 
 
About the Griffons
Missouri Western is 7-6 in the beginning stages of the 2025 season. The team started 1-4 at the D2 First Pitch Invitational, then completely turned it around with a 4-1 record at the McCorkle Challenge. The Griffons picked up two more wins at the Washburn Invite.
 
Senior outfielder Mackenzie DeVine is closing out her Griffon career strong. She holds a .450 batting average with four doubles, two triples and one homer with 13 runs batted in and an OPS of 1.225. Fellow senior, Bubba Hoelscher, is hitting .345 with three doubles and seven RBI. Sydney Young is second on the team with 11 RBI.
 
Sydney Rader is the MWSU ace with 50 innings in the circle thus far in the season. She has 45 Ks, a 1.68 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP and has allowed just 12 earned runs this year. Rader holds a 5-3 record and holds opposing batters to a .196 average at the plate.
 
The Griffons are coached by Nicole Thompson, who is in the midst of her second year in St. Joseph. She joined MWSU from Regis University.
 
About the Hillcats
Rogers State is the No. 8 team in the country, according to the NFCA. The Hillcats started 2-3 at the Gulf Shores Invitational and since then, has won seven straight.
 
The team already has five players with double-digit hit totals. Properly named Abbey Rogers leads the team with a .559 average at the plate, a 1.481 OPS, five doubles, a triple and a home run to go along with 11 runs batted in. Kaylee Lyon and Callie Yellin have a lot of pop to their bats, each with two home runs and a combined 11 doubles.
 
In the circle, Rogers State has three solid pitchers. Jade Sanders leads the team with 24 putouts in 28 innings and a 1.25 ERA. Torie Sandoval is 3-1 and has a WHIP of .87. In 17.1 innings, she has 14 strikeouts. Harley Culie has 19 Ks in 24 innings and holds a perfect 3-0 record.
 
Andrea Vaughan is the Hillcats' leader from the dugout. Vaughan is in her 10^th season as head coach for Rogers State. She has led the program to a 321-161-1 record and 33 postseason wins. Vaughan and the Hillcats won an NCAA National Championship in 2022.
 
About the Gorillas
Pittsburg State is off to a solid start to the 2025 season with a 9-3 record through two weekends of play. The Gorillas won all three of their games at the Washburn Invite.
 
Senior outfielder Courtney Storey is having an excellent start to her final year with PSU. She has 19 hits with a .452 batting average and a 1.060 OPS. She has three doubles, a triple and a team-high 11 RBI. Junior utility player Heather Arnett leads the team with a .537 batting average with a 1.239 OPS. She also leads the Gorillas with 22 hits and four doubles.
 
PSU has two excellent pitchers who have strung together a majority of innings. Ava Laurent leads the team with 41 putouts in 40.2 innings of work. Laurent has an ERA of 2.41 and holds a 5-2 record. She no-hit Minnesota State in the first game of the Washburn Invite and struck out the first nine Maverick batters. Aydenne Brown is 4-1 with 39 strikeouts in 27.2 innings. She holds a 2.28 ERA and a .94 WHIP.
 
Head coach Josh Barnes enters his first season with Pittsburg State after he was hired in July 2024. Before PSU, Barnes was the head coach at NJCAA powerhouse Crowder College.
 
About the Hornets
The Hornets are 11-6 in 2025. After getting mercy-ruled against the Mavericks, Emporia State closed out the Washburn Invite with four-straight wins.
 
Taryn Burkhardt and Sydney Wagner are having great starts to the season. Both players are tied for the team lead with 18 hits. Wagner holds a .360 average at the plate, has three doubles and seven RBI. Burkhardt is hitting .353 and has an on-base percentage of .507 with 16 walks drawn. Brook Flewelling is the Hornet's power hitter with 10 extra-base hits, including five home runs, and a team-high RBI.

Jordan Harrison is the team's best pitcher this far into the season. She has 41 strikeouts with 46.1 innings pitched, an ERA of 2.57 and a .99 WHIP to go along with a perfect 6-0 record. Gracie Rabe is the team's other leading pitcher with 42 innings of work. She has 33 Ks, a 3.33 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP while holding a 4-5 record.
 
Emporia State's head coach, April Rosales, is in the midst of her 10^th season at the helm of the Hornets softball program. Rosales has led ESU to a 239-222 record and an MIAA Tournament Championship.
 
About the Ichabods
Washburn is 12-5 after winning five of its six games at its own invitational. After losing to Wayne State, the host team shut out Northern State with a 4-0 victory.
 
A lot of players do a lot of things for the Ichabods. Alexis Tanguma leads the team with a .400 average with five doubles. Three players have 15+ runs batted in already in 2025. Ellington Hogle leads the team with 19 RBI. Kate Ediger is the team's leading power hitter with four home runs and 18 runs driven in. Kaylee Wagner has driven in 17 RBI this season.
 
Sadie Walker is Washburn's leading ace. With 52.1 innings pitched, she has 54 strikeouts, a 6-1 record and a 3.34 ERA. Ava Bloyd is 4-2 and has pitched 33 innings.
 
Brenda Holaday is in her ninth season coaching Ichabod softball. In her eight seasons, Holaday has amassed a 252-149 record with Washburn.
 
About the Jennies
Central Missouri is 6-4 after an even 2-2 split at the Washburn Invite. The Jennies won their first two games of the tournament against Northern State and Minnesota Crookston but fell to the Mavericks and Wayne State to end it.
 
Morgan Shields leads the Jennies with a .375 batting average. She has nine hits and seven RBI. Taylor Thompson leads the team with 13 runs batted in. She has three doubles and one home run hit in 2025.
 
Emily Brouse is the team's leading ace. She has 132 strikeouts in 27.1 innings pitched. She is 2-1 with an ERA of 3.59, a WHIP of 1.43. Andi Siebeneck is 3-0 and has pitched 10.2 innings.
 
Susan Anderson, the 18^th-year coach for the Jennies, entered 2025 with a 504-376 record. She is second in all-time wins at Central Missouri and is the quickest coach to 100 career wins.